And another month has zoomed by – so much so that I’m late writing this lookback! I usually have these written but February finished and March started with a bang so this is the first opportunity I have had to sit down and look back at what we have done.
February feels like a strange month, the half-term seems to throw our usual routine into disarray and the different Greater Manchester authorities have different half-term weeks. Then add in Emma’s birthday, and the month can feel a little disjointed. But as ever, I am pleased when I look back to see what we have achieved.
Core Subjects
Not much to report here other than we have continued in the same vein with our Maths No Problem work and general activity books. This is a system that works well for us and it does throw up the areas we need to work more on.
We have also started Times Tables Rock Stars with H and the older two are enjoying Night ZooKeeper (more here about that) and it’s really opened their eyes a bit to writing in a way that they haven’t really seen before. It’s pushed us into looking at English grammar and punctuation in a much more formal way than we have in the past, and that will be our focus this half term.
H is doing really well with his reading, and it feels like we might have tipped into the more fluid and confident reading – he can decode words well now and is just much more fluid and confident which is lovely.
Project Work
During February the children worked on the Rainforest adventure project via Twinkl – this was a great way to explore the Amazon Rainforest and it provided a structure for us to work through, I intend to write more about this but it was a really good resource for us and we spent a good while one this.
We have since moved onto the Mayans, but if I’m honest we are losing a bit of enthusiasm with this right now so I think I need to take a break and properly plan this one and revisit in March. This is more me rather than the children; I don’t think I allowed myself the proper break between projects that I needed to prepare for them.
We did take a look at Lunar New Year and had a meet-up at a friend’s house for crafts and dumpling-making. This was a lot of fun and felt like a return to pre-pandemic home ed.
The final project the children have been working on is their Creative Fair projects. This project fair is in March and I look forward to seeing what their finished work looks like; it’s all led by them with very little input from me so it’s going to be interesting to see how they finish these off.
Regular Groups
There was a half-term break for the children’s activities but other than that all have continued on for February. They’re doing well with their swimming lessons and the older two are doing great with their music lessons too. I’m glad their enthusiasm is still there for this after the initial excitement of the first few lessons.
Days Out
Days out have been few and far between with the weather being less than great and having various commitments. We have been out walking to some local spots and met with the children’s youngest cousin for a wander. We also went out for lunch with my auntie and Damian took little H to Old Trafford for the football. We took part if a local community crafting session as well which had been organized by a group a friend is a part of and that was a lovely way to spend an hour.
Other Bits and Pieces
I think that pretty much sums up February – lots of little bits of things done ready for a busy March ahead.
A busy month as ever. Xxx
Busy as ever